Secure cached subscription service
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A secure cached subscription system comprising:
- At least one content provider having fee-based, on-demand information and also having billing software to bill a user account when the fee-based, on-demand information is requested by the user;
At least one primary caching device connected to the at least one content provider to receive the fee-based, on-demand information from the at least one content provider, wherein the at least one content provider is to speculatively download the fee-based, on-demand information into the caching device based upon viewing-habit data of the user;
At least one secondary caching device connected to the at least one primary caching device to receive the fee-based, on-demand information from the at least one primary caching device, wherein the at least one secondary caching device is to receive the fee-based, on-demand information from the at least one primary caching device based upon viewing-habit data of the user; and
At least one processing device connected via a high-bandwidth connection to the at least one secondary caching device to process the fee-based, on-demand information, the content provider to charge the user account a fee after the processing device has processed the fee-based, on-demand information.
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Abstract
A system and method for a secure cached subscription system is described. In one embodiment, the system comprises a content provider and a caching device connected to the content provider. The content provider speculatively downloads information into the caching device based upon a user'"'"'s data. A processing device is connected via a high-bandwidth connection to the caching device for processing the information.
140 Citations
29 Claims
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1. A secure cached subscription system comprising:
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At least one content provider having fee-based, on-demand information and also having billing software to bill a user account when the fee-based, on-demand information is requested by the user;
At least one primary caching device connected to the at least one content provider to receive the fee-based, on-demand information from the at least one content provider, wherein the at least one content provider is to speculatively download the fee-based, on-demand information into the caching device based upon viewing-habit data of the user;
At least one secondary caching device connected to the at least one primary caching device to receive the fee-based, on-demand information from the at least one primary caching device, wherein the at least one secondary caching device is to receive the fee-based, on-demand information from the at least one primary caching device based upon viewing-habit data of the user; and
At least one processing device connected via a high-bandwidth connection to the at least one secondary caching device to process the fee-based, on-demand information, the content provider to charge the user account a fee after the processing device has processed the fee-based, on-demand information. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
a decoding device to decode the fee-based, on-demand information before processing the fee-based on-demand information.
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4. The system of claim 3 wherein the decoding device is a set-top box.
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5. The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one caching device comprises:
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a content cache to store the fee-based, on-demand information; and
a decoder to decode the fee-based information in the content cache prior to processing by the processing device.
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6. The system of claim 5 wherein the at least one secondary caching device is connected via a high-bandwidth connection to the processing device.
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7. The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one caching device comprises:
a content cache to store the fee-based, on-demand information.
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8. The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one caching device comprises:
a decoder to decode the fee-based, on demand information.
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9. The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one processing device comprises:
a decoder to decode the fee-based, on-demand information before processing.
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10. The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one caching device is remotely connected to the at least one content provider.
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11. The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one caching device is to receive the fee-based, on-demand information from the at least one content provider during off-peak hours.
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12. The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one caching device is to receive the fee-based, on-demand information from the at least one content provider on a separate channel.
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13. The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one content provider comprises a profiler to maintain user preference information.
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14. The system of claim 13 further comprising a subscription manager to update the profiler with user preference information.
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15. The system of claim 1 further comprising an authentification manager configured to control access to the fee-based, on-demand information.
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16. A secure cached subscription system comprising:
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At least one content provider having fee-based, on-demand information and also having billing software to bill a user account when the fee-based, on-demand information is requested by the user, and having an encoder to encode the fee-based, on-demand information;
At least one primary caching device connected to the at least one content provider to receive the encoded, fee-based, on-demand information from the at least one content provider, wherein the at least one content provider is to speculatively download the encoded, fee-based, on-demand information into a content cache in the primary caching device based upon viewing-habit data of the user;
At least one secondary caching device connected to the at least one primary caching device to receive the encoded, fee-based, on-demand information from the at least one primary caching device, wherein the at least one secondary caching device is to receive the encoded, fee-based, on-demand information from the at least one primary caching device into a content cache in the secondary caching device based upon viewing-habit data of the user;
At least one decoding device connected to the at least one secondary caching device to decode the encoded, fee-based, on-demand information to produce unencoded, fee-based, on-demand information; and
At least one processing device connected via a high-bandwidth connection to the at least one decoding device to process the unencoded, fee-based, on-demand information, the processing device connected to the content provider, and the content provider to charge the user account a fee after the processing device has processed the unencoded, fee-based, on-demand information. - View Dependent Claims (17)
a profiler connected to the at least one content provider to maintain user preference information;
a subscription manager to update the profiler with current user preference information; and
an authentification manager configured to control access to the fee-based, on-demand information.
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18. A method for providing a secure cached subscription system, comprising:
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Speculatively downloading fee-based, on-demand information from a content provider into a primary caching device based upon viewing-habit data of a user, the content provider having billing software to bill a user account;
Speculatively downloading fee-based, on-demand information from a primary caching device into a secondary caching device based upon viewing-habit data of a user;
Transferring the fee-based, on-demand information from the caching device to a processing device, upon a request of the user, so that the user can view the fee-based, on-demand information; and
Charging the user account a fee after the fee-based, on-demand information has been transferred to the processing device. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
decoding the fee-based, on-demand information after speculatively downloading the fee-based, on-demand information into the caching device.
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20. The method of claim 18 further comprising:
authenticating access to the fee-based, on-demand information.
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21. The method of claim 18 further comprising speculatively downloading the fee-based, on-demand information from the content provider based upon user data.
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22. The method of claim 18 further comprising speculatively downloading the fee-based, on-demand information from the content provider based upon a user profile.
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23. The method of claim 18 wherein the caching device is remotely connected to the content provider.
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24. The method of claim 18 wherein speculatively downloading fee-based, on-demand information from the content provider is done during off-peak hours.
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25. The method of claim 18 wherein speculatively downloading fee-based, on-demand information from the content provider is done on a separate channel.
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26. The method of claim 18 further comprising decoding the fee-based, on-demand information before processing the fee-based, on-demand information.
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27. The method of claim 26 further comprising:
accumulating billing information during decoding of the fee-based, on demand information; and
transferring the billing information to the content provider.
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28. A system for providing a secure cached subscription system, comprising:
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Means for speculatively downloading fee-based, on-demand information from the at least one content provider into an at least one primary caching device, and then into an at least one secondary caching device, based upon viewing-habit data of a user, the content provider having billing software to bill a user account;
Means for transferring the fee-based, on-demand information from the secondary caching device to a processing device, upon a request of the user, so that the user can view the fee-based, on-demand information; and
Means for charging the user account a fee after the fee-based, on-demand information has been transferred to the processing device.
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29. An article of manufacture having one or more computer-readable media with executable instructions therein, which when executed by a processing device, causes the processing device to:
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Speculatively download fee-based, on-demand information from a content provider into an at least one primary caching device, and then into an at least one secondary caching device, based upon viewing-habit data of a user, the content provider having billing software to bill a user account;
Transfer the fee-based, on-demand information from the caching device to a processing device, upon a request of the user, so that the user can view the fee-based, on-demand information; and
Charge the user account a fee after the fee-based, on demand information has been transferred to the processing device.
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Specification